Another One Joins The Fleet

 I'll keep this post short and let the picture do the talking.

As you can see, Lyn is now lined, varnished and reassembled, and ready for action on Bron Hebog, whenever model railway exhibitions are allowed again.

I've written before that Lynton and Barnstaple locos are not my favourites, neither is the unsubtle Southern livery, but Lyn is the most appealing of the lot.

I think it's perhaps got the Earl of Merioneth attitude - it doesn't pretend to be pretty, it's just built to do the job.

And if you don't like that, tough!

Southern Comfort

 

Before leaving for a week in Wales, Himself was making startling progress on the lining on Lyn.

It was a stroke of good fortune that one of the sets of 4mm scale standard gauge Southern locomotive lettering produced by Fox fits exactly for the tanks.

The same was not true of the numbers for the tenders which were a little on the large size, but we found a set of numbers in yellow in the general alphabet and numeral section of the catalogue which are a lot more suitable. 

The white lining is very impressive, particularly around the nameplate on the cabside and even more so on the oval plate on the bunker.

I'm never really been a fan of the Southern livery on any size of locomotive - it's a bit too 'in your face' for my tastes, and I've never felt Lyd fits in on the FR like that.

I much preferred it in the spoof BR black, or its original pre-grouping livery would be even better in my mind.

Somehow the loco which suits it best is this big, boxy American interloper.

Green Agreement

It's a rare day when Himself and I are as one on the question of colours - especially greens!

But we had a rare outbreak of unity in choosing the paint shade for our Backwoods Lynton and Barnstable Lyn which is now being finished off.

Himself bought a selection of Southern shades from the Railmatch range and what we decided on was a 50/50 mix of Light Olive and Malachite Green which best seemed to marry up with the photos we took at Dinas a couple of years ago.

Himself held off with painting this loco because he was never quite satisfied with how it performed - it always had a very pronounced waddle.

The solution has been to disable the compensation on the front driving axle, locking it in place with a new bearing. 

Years ago we had to do the same on the Backwoods Ladies which we could never get to run right as the designer intended.

Listen Up

He’s leaving it a bit late for a mid-life crisis, but it might be a plausible explanation for Himself’s latest purchase.

Some blokes seek out fast cars - or fast women - but Himself has decided to splash  out on a DCC sound chip for our Baldwin.

The fact that this minute piece of wizardry costs nearly as much as the model itself is just one of the aspects I’ve not yet got my head around.

I recall as a kid wondering aloud why we weren’t getting Zero One controllers for our OO trains and being put in my place about the pointlessness of new fangled technology,  so I’m not sure what to make of this latest development.

I shall be keeping a close eye on his behaviour.....

Review Of The Year - Part 3

July

And so to the second half of 2018 where there was much excitement at the arrival of our first ready-to-run model, the Bachmann 590 Baldwin.

I've never made any secret of my enthusiasm for the mainstream manufacturers discovering 009.

The intensity of the debate online around this has been second only to Brexit, but unlike the latter subject I can see only positives in this development for our scale.

I'm hugely excited about the next project in the pipeline, the small quarry Hunslets (especially the cab-less versions) and for what this innovative firm might decide to do next.

In this month I began work on a project which had been on the back burner for a while, to make models of the hybrid BZ wagons made at Boston Lodge for infrastructure trains on the FR.

I decided to make masters and cast them in resin, even though only two have been produced so far and they are far from identical.

July was also the month where, quite by chance, I discovered that the last two Backwoods NGG16 kits produced were available to buy.

We had to dig deep to avert the possibility of them being offered for sale in an online auction, but we'd been looking for a number of years for the opportunity to complete our Garratt fleet and it was too good an opportunity to miss.

August

The first of the BZ wagons had been cast and was being put together.

The fold-flat end doors are a right pain because I had to scratch build the triangular support brackets in styrene, which was a very fiddly job.

Himself had been putting together a Chivers kit of a tiny Hunslet diesel to replace our model of Harold, the Boston Lodge shunter, which had been stolen when we were exhibiting Dduallt in Leeds a number of years ago.

And to have a bit of fun for when we took Bron Hebog to show at the Welsh Highland 'Super Power' weekend I decided to add a very contemporary scenic feature - a reminder of the day when a driver tried his luck racing a Garratt to Bron Hebog crossing - and the Garratt won!

September

Himself had taken an executive decision to invest in panoramic photographic backscenes for the show at Dinas.

The result was very effective indeed!

We had a fabulous time - as we always do - showing Bron Hebog in the goods shed, this time in its finished state.

The Lynton and Barnstaple Baldwin Lyn was the star attraction on the railway and Himself pulled out the stops to get the Backwoods kit we had been given running.

Once again we couldn't resist being cheeky and double-heading it with Lyd knowing that the real locomotives were not being allowed anywhere near each other that weekend.

Back home the production line of superbarns continued with a start being made on assembling number 120.

Ready To Run Revisions

Himself likes to tinker - it's been a lifelong habit.

As soon as we received our Bachmann Baldwin 590 he was pulling it apart - as much as he dared! -to see how it worked.

So it was little surprise to me when he said he wanted add some extra details to make it look more authentically like the Col. Stephens hand-me-down.

One of the features which stands out in the photographs from the time, and isn't included on the Bachmann model, is the homemade cab back sheet, which was no doubt added to provide protection from the liquid sunshine in the top left hand corner of Wales.

In the spirit of (I presume) the fitters at Dinas, he's knocked up something in styrene which can be clipped into position.

He hasn't been able to figure out a way of doing the same for the side extensions without permanently fixing them to the body, but a quick search of the web brings up pictures where it only had the rear part fitted.

My main concern is that it looks far too clean and shiny for 590, but then we are modelling the railway in the present day when the locomotives do, by and large, look immaculate.

(Although it has to be said the WHR Garratts do tend to look a little more 'honest' in daily service than the pampered fleet on the FR.)

Baldwin At Beddgelert

There was something very exciting in the post while I was away on my summer holidays, something that until very recently I never thought I would see - a stunning ready-to-run 009 locomotive.

Usually there's not a lot to look forward to when you return home but this time I was full of anticipation for getting to take a look at our Bachmann Baldwin 4-6-0.

Most of Bron Hebog is set up for testing and fettling of the board joints at Himself's place at the moment so we've actually had the chance to give it a proper test and have some fun taking a few snaps.

It's been 80 years since a Baldwin was last seen at Beddgelert.

I do hope it won't be too much longer before either 778 or the pretend 590 being restored for the WHHR can play out these scenes for real.

It's All In The Detail

Himself and I spent an enjoyable afternoon at one of those typical small, local shows at the weekend - in this case the Kyle MRC event in Troon.

I hadn't expected to find much of narrow gauge interest - continental modelling is surprisingly popular here in Scotland in my experience, much more so that south of the border it seems to me - so I was delighted to find an excellent little OO9 layout called Bachdale and Dibley Level.

It's not large - in fact so may call it a 'rabbit warren' - and it's completely freelance, basically running anything which will fit inside a loading gauge which makes the original FR seem generous.

What impressed me, though, was the high standard of execution in everything to with the layout, especially in places that you can't ordinarily see into.

The engine shed is a case in point.

The interior has been modelled in exquisite detail, but you won't see any of it unless the operators are kind enough to remove the roof for you.

Among the items of rolling stock which caught my eye were these four wheel carriages.

As far as I can tell they've been made from plastic kits which are readily available, but they've been finished with a beautiful teak-effect scumble.

I clearly wasn't the only one impressed because, quite deservedly, it was voted the best layout by the visitors.

The other thing which really pleased me was to get my first proper look at one of the new Bachmann Baldwin 4-6-0 tanks.

Previously I'd only seen them in a display case so this was an opportunity to hold and examine one and see it running.

(And it was a case of only seeing it because it ran almost silently.)

The level of detail and finish is extraordinary - like nothing that's ever been seen in 009 ready-to-run before.

Bachmann haven't just raised the bar, they've shot it into orbit!

It's only increased my excitement for receiving the 590 version which we have on order, and I can't wait to see what sort of job they do on the Quarry Hunslet tanks.

Bald Yins

I don't know how much excitement it's possible for narrow gauge modellers to take - and I know I'm late with the breaking news here - but the first of the Bachmann Baldwin tanks have broken cover.

(I nearly required fresh underwear, I don't mind admitting.)

Photo: Bachmann

These follow on from Heljan's L&B Manning Wardle models and are also expected to go on sale before the year is out.

We're hugely excited by these models because a Baldwin 4-6-0 is an iconic WHR loco, although very much in the modellers' licence zone as far as modern day Beddgelert is concerned, but we can dream.

The other reason is because I had never expected us to be able to have a realistic model of one of these locos,

Yes, there have been body kits around for a long time but no way of getting a chassis with the proper wheel arrangement - with the big gap between the 2nd and 3rd driving axles - unless you built your own from scratch (which I did once see done beautifully in a magazine article).

We've already got our reservation in with the lovely people at Festshop.

These engineering prototypes looked to have captured that perfectly as well as all the messy plumbing (to the eyes of those brought up on British designs) and I'm really looking forward to getting to see if they've captured that top heavy, about-to-roll-over-any-moment look of the real thing.

Hopefully the extra 1mm in the gauge hasn't spoiled that.

Russell Returns & Baldwin Beckons

There have been exciting Narrow Gauge developments in recent weeks.

In the real world Russell has returned to service on the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway following a long, and thorough overhaul.

I suspect I am not alone in wondering how long it will be before the old boy ventures onto the original formation once again. (The last time was trips from Dinas to Waunfawr)

Of course here on Bron Hebog Russell has already returned to Beddgelert and hopefully soon this scene will no longer be just a piece of modeller's licence.

The other exciting news is that Bachmann is dipping a toe in the OO9 market and has announced plans to make a ready-to-run model of the Baldwin 4-6-0, and some WD wagons, as tie in to commemorations of 100 years since the start of the Great War.

This is amazing news because I have hankered after a model of a Baldwin ever since I saw 778 running on the WHHR a few years ago.

The railway is in the process of restoring another survivor to run as number 590, the loco used on the original WHR, which is one of the versions Bachmann is proposing to build.

Although body kits for Baldwins have been around for decades I've always been put off by the lack of a realistic chassis option because there is noting that has the distinctive gap between the 2nd and; 3rd axles.

We have already put in an order for a model of 590.

We may have to wait around a year for it to appear. How long, I wonder, before a real Baldwin steams back to Beddgelert?

Now finally, there is an issue for the Bron Hebog HR dept to address.

You may have heard of a story which cropped up here in Scotland a couple of weeks ago where it emerged one of the volunteers taking part in the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games was (allegedly) doing it having told her employers she was on sick leave.

Her cover was blown, so the story goes, when her bosses, watching the show on TV, noticed that one of dancers looked strangely familiar.

I guess she hadn't considered that....

Well something similar has happened to Himself.

He's been caught on camera skiving from the task of getting Bron Hebog ready for its next exhibition in a few weeks time and is instead apparently having a jolly good time in North Wales.

He's clearly forgotten that I have spies everywhere.